Happy Labor Day, blogosphere!
I hope you all have been able to enjoy your extended weekend. After finishing summer final exams last week, the break was definitely a nice welcome.
As you know, I began my first clinical internship this summer in The Eye Center on SCO’s campus. I spent three days in clinic; every Monday I was in Adult Primary Care and during my other two assigned days I did rotations in Teen Clinic, Vision Therapy, Optical, and Technology. There was definitely a learning curve initially, but my classmates and I eventually became more confident in our patient care with the guiding patience of our staff doctors. My biggest challenge in clinic has been determining which pharmaceutical therapies to put a patient on based on their signs, symptoms, and timing. Not only are there several different drugs to treat slight variations of the same diseases, but being able to articulate why I want to start a patient on a specific therapy hasn’t come as quickly as I’d like. My staff doctors say it’s all about repetition, trial-and-error, and knowing it will take time to acquire this knowledge…but still, I wish it was easier. My focus for the fall clinic then is to start piecing together my assessments and plans for patients, and really begin to formulate my patient care protocol.
Speaking of the fall, I will continue to do my three-day clinic rotations each week. I’ll also be taking an integrative analysis course that fuses what I’ve learned in my didactic course over the past few years with what I am seeing in clinic. Plus, I’ve signed up for a seminar course on medical optometry. My lecture course load is a bit lighter this fall (giving me a somewhat of a head start studying for spring National Boards–oh.my.goodness!) and the courses are in Neuro Eye Disease, Posterior Segment II (which focuses on the anatomy, physiology, and disease of the retina), and Practice Management.
On the mention of practice management, I was able to shadow a local private practice back in my hometown. With my new clinical experience and quite a lot more optometric knowledge under my belt, I felt much more aware of the goings-on in both the office management and patient care during the exam. I was able to watch two optometrists during my days of shadowing, and they even had me conduct refraction and retinal examinations on patients…it was like a job interview, but I’m not going to complain about that ;) I’ll be meeting with the practice partners again over Christmas break. Let’s just say the prospects are exciting, but I’m still trying to keep all my options open…there are so many career possibilities in this profession!
As for September, I’m working on the final details of Optifest planning. As you may recall this is AOSA’s annual ophthalmic frames and technology trunk show. Students can attend the event and receive huge discounts on designer spectacle frames and sunglasses or see the latest eye care technology from our 22+ vendors. I’m excited to announce, AOSA has partnered with International Vision Expo as the exclusive sponsor of Optifest 2013. Also, AOSA gives away tons of prizes from gift cards, free glasses, and iPads! This month is also Congressional Advocacy Conference, where optometry leaders and students storm the Capitol to lobby for optometry’s future. You can expect my full report from Washington, D.C. in the coming weeks!
Lastly, the fall once again brings about the Memphis Runners Track Club’s annual Road Race Series. You might remember I did this last year too, but it’s 10 races over 5 months that begin with a 5K and end with two half marathons in November. Several of my classmates are running these races as well, and even my roommate has joined the bandwagon. Pretty much running has become the ‘thing’ at SCO…trust me, you’d be surprised at how much studying you can accomplish when running on a treadmill! I also signed up for the St. Jude’s Marathon. I’m part of SCO’s 5-member Relay Team which will tackle the 26.2 mile marathon course and raise funds for cancer research. I guess I better start working on my speed!
It’s been quite the summer, blogosphere–Optometry’s Meeting, my first clinic rotations, third year, Memphis sun, and good times with friends. Can you believe my student career at SCO is inching closer and closer towards graduation…I mean, I already know my externship sites for next year—say hello to SCO (summer 2014), my private practice rotation in Richmond, KY (fall 2014), and Walter Reed Medical Center (spring 2015)!
And before I forget, Welcome Class of 2017!
Carpe Diem,
Amy